Bank of China Aviation PTE Ltd, which has leased three aircraft to SpiceJet, is not unduly worried about the current financial state of the airline, said Robert J Martin, its Managing Director and Chief Executive.
“We took pre-emptive action and did not deliver three other aircraft to SpiceJet. Now, SpiceJet has three aircraft and they are current on payments for these aircraft till the end of December 2014,” Martin told newspersons while boarding the inaugural Vistara flight from Delhi to Mumbai.
Martin said BOC will deliver 13 Airbus 320 aircraft to Vistara by 2016.
The induction of wide-body aircraft will allow Vistara to start long-haul international operations by operating non-stop flights from India to Australia, the US, Canada and Africa.
At present government rules do not permit Vistara to fly international routes. The government has stipulated that a domestic airline should have operated for five years and have a fleet of 20 aircraft to start international operations.
Keeping in mind the existing rules, Vistara has started operations with Airbus A-320 aircraft, which cannot fly non-stop to the US, Europe or Africa.